Reverse Flow Smokers and frabrication questions

[pineywoods]

Thomas even if you start with brand new steel you will have surface rust before you finish the project. Just clean the area your going to weld and when your done with the smoker have it sandblasted. In our climate you will not keep all the rust off while fabricating it.

 

[thomasyoung]

Thank you Jerry. I still might have to go to EZ Wheels and get longer axels. I guess I can do that later once I have the frame worked on a bit more.
Thanks,
Thomas

 

[smokingohiobutcher]

A 4-1/2 Angle grinder with a braided wire wheel or a braided cup wire wheel will take care of that rust in a hurry!

 

[pineywoods]

There is a good welding shop between Crystal River and Homosassa called Lee's Certified Welding that does good work but they aren't cheap. If you get the plans figured out exactly you may want to get with them for a price. One of the first things is to figure out what exactly is going on the trailer and then lay it all out on paper and see what size the trailer is going to have to be. We kinda talked about the vertical tank which would be cool but if you built it on the ground to a height of 6' then put it up on the trailer could you still reach the upper part to hang stuff? We also talked about a sink that would be cool but would have to be figured out as far as what to use and how much space you'd need. As far as building it yourself I think it would be a fun project but it would require quite a bit in the way of tools and equipment. If your going to have doors on both sides of the smoker and have the tank centered on the trailer it can't be overly wide or you won't be able to reach into the smoker. How wide it needs to be I'm not sure but then I'm not even sure how wide the tank is. Just trying to throw some things out to think about

 

[bigdale]

Hobart makes good welders, I can attest to that as my family owns both a hobart "Buzz Box" that is probably 40 years old and a newer Hobart Beta Mig 250 that pretty much renders that old Buzz Box useless. They built them in town here for years and my dad went to their welding school just 4 or 5 blocks away 40 years or so ago. I would recomend that before you start trying to tackle a project like this yourself you practice, practice and practice some more or you may not be happy with the outcome. I will tell you that welding with a wire welder isn't all that difficult but there are alot of fundamentals that you should know before you start welding on things your going to pull around behind your truck. I am not trying to discourage you at all, I am just hinting that you may want to get somone you know to show you how to weld before you dive right in. Just a half hour of instruction and a few explanations would make this project alot easier on you. Also, as for that rust you can buy polishing wheels for a body grinder that are basically emry cloth lapped over a wheel... they are ab it expensive but they work great for weld preps

 

[thomasyoung]

Hi Pineywoods and everyone,
Ok I went out and took some measurements and I’m trying to put everything down on paper and have some kind of plan here. The first thing is as the trailer is now it is 14 feet long from the back to where it starts going towards the tongue of the trailer and 4 feet wide. I think that is plenty wide but I’m wondering if the axles need to be longer. Right now the space between the tires is 54”. That’s leaving about 3” from the frame to the tires. Are the axles wide enough to not cause any damage to the tires because of heat?

So now I have to take into consideration what is going on the trailer and the sizes of each item. The main tank the 500 gallon tank is 121 inches/10’1” in length and is 36” in width. The fire box that I think should go on there if I remember Pineywoods recommendation was 34” x34”? Most of that will be sitting outside of the trailer.

Then there is the Standup Smoker. If I use the 250 gallon tank it is 26’ wide and I’m thinking of cutting ½ off one of the round ends to meet into the Firebox. From the cut off end to the top is 64” the total length of the 250 gallon tank is 76" aprx. (started to rain hard when taking measurments)



The size of the Chicken Cooker Pit from Smoky Mountain Barbecue is as follows:


Measurements

Overall Dimensions
39"H x 55.5"L x 30"W
Grate Dimensions
22" x 40"
Flat Grate Dimensions
22" x 41"
Cooking Area
6.11 sq. ft. (880 sq. in.)
Cooking Area of Flat Grate
6.26 sq. ft. (902 sq. in.)
Mesh
1.5" x 13" S.S. Expanded Metal
Metal Thickness
13 Gauge
Net Weight
250 lbs.


I want to put in a Stainless Steel tank to wash my hands. I have to find one that has been in a camper, as I do not want to pay the high price that I notice on the Yoder’s Smoky Mountain Barbecue. They want some $3000.00 and up in price.

Last I want to put in a Propane heater to fry fish or boil Corn. Anybody know what a normal size for this would be? Last on the front of the trailer a box to hold fire wood. I’m thinking 3’ x 4’ With a place to hold small propane tanks between the chicken grill and the boiler.

Just adding the one side, the 500, 250 gallon tanks, the Chicken Grill and the firewood holder is: 101” + 26” + 55.5” 36”= 218.5 inches and that’s making it right next to each other I’m thinking that if the trailer was a 20 footer it should hold every thing I have planned providing that the Stainless Steel Sinks with Cabinets and the Fish/Corn Boiler is not larger then the other side. Anybody know where I can pick up some used Sinks that use a holding tank and a 12 volt system? I tried looking on Craig’s List and haven’t found any.

Thanks,
Thomas

P.S.
Pineywoods, I was just thinking of taking it over to him at Lee's welding. The guy at EZ Wheels also told me he could make my smoker too.

 

[thomasyoung]

Thanks I will rembember that. I also have a large grinder that uses a sanding disk to grind off rust. I know what you are talking about too and that should do it.

 

[thomasyoung]

Thanks I like Hobart myself. Used their equipment for other practises and I know they make a find product. Other then Hobart I think Miller is good too.

 

[tsywake]

14 ft is a nice length. If you need something to base your figures/estimates off of, check the thread I posted about my tailgate trailer. It is 14 ft long, but is 7.5 ft wide. My smoker is only 30" in diameter, but its a little smaller. That might help with the scale. As long as you have good air circulation around the smoker, you can reduce the heat on your tires. As long as you plan to do indirect heating through your burn box, the actual smoker shouldnt get too terribly hot. In that case, I'd think 3" would be ok. If you ever decided to do direct heating with coals in the bottom of the smoker, then I'd worry about it heating your tires.

Using a grinding wheel with a wire attachment should work fine for knocking off the rust. That is what I did with mine. They make a rusty metal primer, which works well for the trailer. I took the grinder to my trailer to knock all the rust off, then went ahead and primed it. As I add to it, I'll just grind off where I am going to weld, and reprime it when I finish that spot. I was losing the battle with rust, and couldnt afford to get it sandblasted at the end at $60 an hour.

 

[meat hunter]

You said you were going to have this unit powder coated? Heres something that may help you with your rust issues. Actually this is so you dont get anymore rust. Get your whole unit welded up the way you like it. Something this large is going to get some surface rust while your working on, there really is not a thing you can do about it. But, after its all welded up, you can keep it from flash rusting prior to paint. IF, the place that does your powder coating is a full service paint place, they should have this liquid thats almost like antifreese. If they blast thier pieces prior to painting them, they apply this liquid to them. It keeps the metal from forming any surface rust and if I remember right, it gives you about a 3 week window. I forget the name of it of right now but they will know. Get the amount you need based on what they tell you and apply it with a regualr weed sprayer on fine mist. Once your rig is all welding and finished, if you can, have it blasted. Then apply the preventor. I know first hand this stuff works as I worked on one of the largerst powder coating systems here in Minnesota. There are other rust preventer / rust convertors out there, but most contain some sort of pertroleum base and that is NOT compatible with powder coat paints. Once the piece is heated in their ovens, the petroleum/oil in the metal will come to the surface and your paint will not stick. I do allot of powder coating here at my shop where I strip old cars down and powder coat the pieces. The stuff I use is Eastwoods Metal Wash.

 

[pantherfan83]

With the discussion of weigh distribution front to back, aret there also considerations as far as the distribution of weight side to side? I loaded a lot of lumber on a trailer one time and put a bunch of 16 ft 2x10s on one side and a bunch of 8 ft 1x6s on the other. At slower speeds, the trailer rode fine, but when I got on the highway it started swaying and I nearly dumped the load and was very close to crashing. I'm not sure if it was because the weight was so much different left to right, or becuase the weight hung off the back of the trailer on one side and not the other. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[tsywake]

What was the max weight load for the trailer, and could you have been close to the maximum weight if not over? If you have a single axle trailer without springs, and it is overweighted, they can be a bear to drive.